Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) VP Sells $350,000.00 in Stock

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $357,420. This represents a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NYSE:KMB opened at $141.33 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $46.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $130.74 and its 200-day moving average is $136.45. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $120.49 and a 1-year high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 66.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.6% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 37,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,289,000 after acquiring an additional 928 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 13,351.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 311,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,288,000 after buying an additional 308,959 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 241.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 38,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,494,000 after buying an additional 27,307 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 123,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,628,000 after buying an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Investments LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 18.8% in the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 8,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,219,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KMB. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets personal care and consumer tissue products in the United States. It operates through three segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, and K-C Professional. The company’s Personal Care segment offers disposable diapers, training and youth pants, swimpants, baby wipes, feminine and incontinence care products, reusable underwear, and other related products under the Huggies, Pull-Ups, Little Swimmers, GoodNites, DryNites, Sweety, Kotex, U by Kotex, Intimus, Thinx, Poise, Depend, Plenitud, Softex, and other brand names.